


A Sign of Family

by audeamus22



Series: Signs 'Verse [3]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Deaf Character, M/M, deaf Gracie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-06
Updated: 2014-10-06
Packaged: 2018-02-19 23:26:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2406749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/audeamus22/pseuds/audeamus22
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny brings Grace to work, a day spent with Steve reveals to Kono and Chin some secrets they weren't quiet ready to share.</p><p>from the prompt: "Chin and Kono know sign language because a member of their family is also deaf" and "Danny can bring her to HQ on 'see your parents work' day and she bounces on Steve and clings to him like he was her daddy and Kono and chin are surprised, Kono or Chin also do understand some sign language and no one knows and Gracie gets excited talking about Steve and Danno living together"</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Sign of Family

**Author's Note:**

> All my info about ASL (American Sign Language) and the signs used are coming from; http://www.signingsavvy.com. I don't know much about ASL since I'm Australian (and barely know anything about AUSLAN) but I did spend a year doing sign language linguistics, so I'm trying to keep it as realistic as I can!  
> Also, when characters are communicating, "-" is spoken and '-' is signed, and if someone says 'danno', 'monkey' or 'seal' then thats in relation to Danny's, Grace's and Steve's sign names! ANYWAYS! Hope you enjoy the fic!

**Title:** A Sign of Family (part of my Deaf!Grace 'Verse)  
 **Characters:** Steve/Danno, Grace, Kono, Chin  
 **Fandom:** Hawaii Five-O  
 **Summary:** Danny brings Grace to work, a day spent with Steve reveals to Kono and Chin some secrets they weren't quiet ready to share.  
 **Rating:** G  
 **Spoilers:** None  
 **Word Count** : ~2,200  
 **Warnings:** -  
 **Beta:** [](http://burned-phoenix.livejournal.com/profile)[**burned_phoenix**](http://burned-phoenix.livejournal.com/)  
 **Disclaimer:** In my dreams maybe, but I don't own them!  
 **Written for** : [](http://willow-fae-20.livejournal.com/profile)[**willow_fae_20**](http://willow-fae-20.livejournal.com/) who asked for "Chin and Kono know sign language because a member of their family is also deaf" and [](http://burned-phoenix.livejournal.com/profile)[**burned_phoenix**](http://burned-phoenix.livejournal.com/) who asked for "Danny can bring her to HQ on 'see your parents work' day and she bounces on Steve and clings to him like he was her daddy and Kono and chin are surprised, Kono or Chin also do understand some sign language and no one knows and Gracie gets excited talking about Steve and Danno living together"  
 **A/N:** I'm making this a fairly long A/N since this has now turned into a series, all my info about ASL (American Sign Language) and the signs used are coming from [here](http://www.signingsavvy.com/). I don't know much about ASL since I'm Australian (and barely know anything about AUSLAN) but I did spend a year doing sign language linguistics, so I'm trying to keep it as realistic as I can!  
Also, when characters are communicating, "-" is spoken and '-' is signed, and if someone says 'danno', 'monkey' or 'seal' then thats in relation to Danny's, Grace's and Steve's sign names! ANYWAYS! Hope you enjoy the fic! :D

  
Danny gripped Grace’s small hand in his, her pink _Hello Kitty_ backpack slung over his shoulder as his little girl chatted away about how excited she was to be with her _Danno_ for the day at work. Danny, on the other hand, wasn’t as excited. Sure, he loved any time spent with his little girl, but he was always nervous about when she was meeting new people. And while Chin and Kono were great, meeting a deaf child always seemed to reveal a different side to a person.

‘Seal!’ Grace signed excitedly, hands flapping quickly as she spotted the other man. She let go of Danny’s hand and rushed into the open arms of his partner.

Steve wrapped his arms around the little girl, picking her up and twirling around quickly. ‘How are you, baby girl? What are you doing here?’ Steve signed awkwardly, Grace now sitting on his hip, one of Steve’s arms holding her in place, limiting his ability to sign.

‘Good! No school today! Mommy said I get to stay here instead!’ she signed back. Steve smiled, accepting Grace’s answer but looking at Danny for more explanation.

“Her class is having a ‘take your kid to work’ day, Rachel said I could take her here because it’s my weekend with her anyway, but I think she just didn’t want Gracie seeing whatever it is Stan does…” Danny spoke, ‘she also has to write an essay about what she did at work,’ he signed and spoke simultaneously, reminding Grace of the actual reason she was with them today.

‘Cool! We’ll have a great day!’ Steve told Grace, taking Grace’s bag off of Danny and moving to take her into his office, knowing Danny had some paperwork to do before he could do anything with Grace.

“Where’s uh… Chin and Kono?” Danny asked, obviously trying to hide his nervousness.

“They’re still out,” Steve said, pressing a quick kiss to Grace’s temple. “You okay? What’s up?” Steve asked, noticing Danny’s anxiety.

“I’m just worried about how Kono and Chin are going to react,” Danny shrugged, head tilting slightly towards Grace.

“Babe,” Steve started, hand coming up and rubbing at his arm slightly, pulling the shorter man in closer to his free side, “you know it will all be fine, they will love her ‘how could you not love Gracie?’” he reassured his partner, signing the last part and causing Grace to giggle.

“I’m being stupid, I know,” Danny said tickling Grace before telling her that seal-Steve would be looking after her for a bit while he made some _boring_ but important phone calls and finished some paperwork. Grace didn’t mind at all, arms wrapping around Steve’s neck as she clung to the taller man. ‘Well, I see I'm not needed, have fun you two,’ Danny smirked, leaving the two of them to do their own thing.

Steve took Gracie into his office, sitting her down opposite his chair at his desk while he rummaged through the small backpack. “Let’s see what we’ve got here,” he said, pulling out some books, paper and her pencil case. ‘Read or draw?’ he asked.

‘Read!’ she decided upon immediately.

Steve nodded, handing over her book with a smile, ‘you tell me if there’s something you don’t understand, okay?’ Steve said, knowing how Danny and Rachel were with teaching Grace to read and sign.

Grace nodded, becoming completely immersed in her story straight away. After a while of absolute silence, Steve got the feeling that he was being watched. Looking up, he quirked his eyebrow at Grace’s intense stare. ‘What?’ he asked, poking his tongue out at her slightly.

‘Can we go swimming tonight? I like it when we swim, especially if we can get Danno to come in with us! It’s always the best, even if I have to watch you two kiss!’ she asked, her smile turning into a cute scowl at the mention of the two men kissing.

‘I think we could manage that, I love our weekends together too,’ Steve smiled, knowing how important it was to tell the little girl how much he loved her and having her around.

‘I think your house is way cooler than Danno’s apartment, I even have my own room there and everything!’ she added, her excitement building as she reminisced about how they had spent their last weekend together redecorating Mary’s old room into her new bedroom.

“Uh… Steve?” Kono asked nervously, head poked through his glass door into his office, her eyes darting between her boss and the little girl sitting before him.

“Shit,” Steve swore under his breath. ‘Stay here,’ he signed subtly, speaking at the same time, trying to keep up some sort of illusion in front of Kono for Danny’s sake, knowing however that there was no real point. Steve pushed Kono back out of his office, “Danny!” he called out, indicating for Chin to join them as well.

Danny marched out of his office, ready to rant, his jaw snapping shut at the sight of Chin and Kono however. His complexion suddenly paled, eyes meeting Steve’s, silently questioning his partner.

“Will someone please tell us what is going on?” Kono finally spoke up.

Steve looked towards Danny to take the lead on this conversation. With only a slight tilt of his head, Danny knew that Steve would go along with whatever he said, moving to stand beside Steve in need of his support. He was never ashamed of Grace, not from the moment Rachel and he realised that their baby was deaf, and he knew that no matter how his other teammates handled this news, he would be able to handle it, at least with Steve sticking by his side.

“That is my daughter, Grace, I get her on some weekends, this is going to be one of them,” Danny started to explain.

“Why didn’t you ever tell us about her, _brah_?” Chin asked, having also noticed the girl sitting in Steve’s office.

“Well…”

“And why was she talking to Steve about her room at his house? Do you two live there together now?” Kono added. That comment cause Steve’s head to snap up, he knew she must have seen some of their signs, but he didn’t think that she would have been able to understand any of it.

“Well, see… she was born deaf…” Danny started.

“And?” Kono asked, not understanding Danny’s attempt at an explanation.

Danny didn’t know what to say to that, he had expected more of a negative reaction to the whole thing. Not getting one seemed to have floored him completely. “Well… I don’t know,” Danny shrugged, leaning in towards Steve slightly for more support.

Kono, ever observant, caught the movement. “So you two _are_ shacking it up together? Awesome! Chin, you owe me!”

“Wait! Who said anything about me and Steve? And you were placing bets on us?” Danny asked, building up for a rant Steve calming Danny with a slight touch to his arm.

“Half the PD have bets on the two of you, mostly the women,” Kono admitted.

“That doesn’t matter, how did you know what Gracie and I were talking about? We were speaking completely in ASL?” Steve asked.  
“Oh, one of our cousins is deaf, we both know a bit of ASL, also some old Hawaiian pidgin sign language, but that quickly becoming just an extinct form of ASL,” Kono explained, indicating her and Chin as if it were nothing.

“Really?” Steve and Danny voiced simultaneously.

“Yeah, so… can we meet the _keiki_?” Chin asked, trying to get them all back on track.

“Oh, sure, yeah of course!” Danny all but sighed, thankful that his friends were so accepting, feeling just a bit stupid for ever doubting them to begin with.

“So you and him?” Kono asked Steve as Danny went to get Grace.

“Not now Kono, you know Danny is a private guy,” Chin said for Steve, seeing the other man watching his partner and daughter with a small smile gracing his face , making it obvious to the other two the level of their relationship.

‘Gracie,’ Danny started, using her sign name, ‘this is C-H-I-N and K-O-N-O,’ he introduced, finger spelling their names for Grace. ‘They work with me and Steve,’ he told her, using Steve’s sign name as well.

‘Hi,’ Grace waves, trying to hide herself behind bother Steve and Danny’s legs.

Chin crouched down so that he was eye-level with Grace, ‘nice to meet you,’ he signed, awkward from disuse.

Grace gave a nervous smile, encouraged by Danny’s gentle push against her back and the new man’s honest attempt at sign language.

‘You too,’ she signed back.

“What’s the plan for today?” Kono asked, looking towards Grace.

“We’ve got a quiet day today,” Steve said, ruffling Grace’s hair, “take care of any paperwork you may have, then we’ll show this Monkey what it is we do here!” Steve said while he signed.

Danny groaned while Kono _whooped_ in excitement, Chin simply laughing at his friends’ antics. Kono and Chin both went into their own offices to get their work done while Danny, Steve and Grace went into Steve’s office. With Grace settled on Steve’s lap and Danny sitting across from them, Steve finally asked; “You realise they know we’re together now right? This little one just outed us,” Steve asked cautiously, unsure of how Danny would react to that reminder.

“Yeah, I do, I was trying to focus on one crisis at a time, and since the first of my ‘crisis’s’ turned out not so bad, so I'm assuming the same for this one…” Danny said as calmly as he possibly could.

“Good idea, we can talk to them later about keeping _us_ quiet,” Steve suggested.

“Thanks Babe,” Danny said, leaning in and pressing his lips to Steve’s, Grace getting stuck in between them, causing the little girl to giggle in delight.

“I really have to give you guys some sort of warning signal when I'm on my way!” Kono spoke, causing Steve and Danny to spring apart.

“Sorry Bosses,” she said sheepishly.

“Kono!” Steve all but growled.

“Freaking _ninja_!” Danny added.

“What do you want this time?” Steve asked, wishing he had just a little bit more time alone with the two people he cared most about.

“I was just coming in to say that Chin and I have no urgent paperwork to do, we… I was wondering if we could do something now?” Kono asked, smiling brightly at Grace, a hint of a mischievous grin coming out.

Danny and Steve exchanged glances, ‘you have to see how we work,’ Danny started.

‘So let’s show you what we do,’ Steve finished.

“Huh?” Kono questioned.

“Fire up the super computer, we’ve got some research to do!” Danny said, an idea forming in his head.

“What are you planning?” Steve asked as Kono went to do as she was told.

‘Let’s do some research about ASL and the Hawaiian version Kono was talking about. Monkey, you’re going to get to do some “detective work” now since you’re going to be around these people a lot. I figure we can use this as a way to teach them some more signs, as well as learn some ourselves, it’s about time Seal-Steve got another lesson right?’ Danny explained, Grace and Steve both looking excited.

‘Sounds good to me’, ‘awesome!’ they both answered.

The four adults stood around the computer table, Grace seated in between Danny and Steve, everyone’s attention on the little girl. Danny explained how the table worked, and then Grace was off, taking the lead in teaching the three Hawaiian natives how to sign simple phrases she deemed as important to know.

The rest of the day was filled with laughter and good humour as they all attempted to learn and recreate the new signs in both the traditional ASL and some Hawaiian ASL. Pizza was ordered for lunch, much to Danny’s chagrin, everyone else joking around the cheesy slices, keeping far away from the special table as they ate.

Early in the afternoon, once things were winding down, Steve decided to call in an early day, picking up the small child and settling her on his hip, her head resting on his shoulder. They all started saying their goodbyes, Grace drawing everyone’s attention to her with her exhausted signing.

‘Bye Chin, bye Pretty-girl,’ Grace signed with a wave, pointing to her own chin then tracing a smile against her lips with her finger as Chin’s sign name and using the signs for ‘ _pretty’_ and ‘ _girl’_ as Kono’s newly assigned sign name.

Both Chin and Kono beamed in surprise, immediately understanding that not only had Grace just allocated them her own special sign names, but that she now also counted them as a something important in her own small world.

‘Bye Monkey,’ both Chin and Kono signed back, using Danny’s nickname for her.

Later, Danny was settling Grace into his car to go to Steve’s house, Steve and him having arrived separately so that he could get Grace that morning.

‘Did you have a good day?’ Danny asked.

‘I had so much fun!’ Grace nodded, going on to explain just how much fun she had had.

All of Danny’s previous worried about the rest of his team meeting Grace and finding out and his and Steve’s relationship now just seemed so stupid in his mind.

‘I really like our _ohana_ , Danno!’ Grace smiled, using the new sign she had learned. And that right there, damn near brought a tear to Danny’s eye.

 

-End.  



End file.
